


brand new sun

by wafflesofdoom



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Light Angst, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 07:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11550729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wafflesofdoom/pseuds/wafflesofdoom
Summary: letting yourself move on was the hardest part of any breakup. or, robert goes on his first date with leyla, and has a conversation with aaron.





	brand new sun

**Author's Note:**

> for malorie, because she's encouraging me to write about 75k more of these two.

It had been Leyla, who’d flirted with him first. Robert had accepted it, that he and Aaron were over - Aaron had a string of new boyfriends to prove that he was very much moving on, and well, Robert was happy for him, he  _was_. Aaron deserved to be happy, even if that meant not being with him.

He just hadn’t thought about moving on himself. The closest Robert had gotten to moving on was taking off his wedding ring, the two bands nestled safely in a box at the back of his chest of drawers, finger bare in a way he wasn’t quite used to, even now, months on.

Leyla had noticed, in that quiet, typically Leyla sort of way no one seemed to give her enough credit for. She hadn’t said anything, just set a gin and tonic down in front of him and given her one of her bright and easy smiles, and asked if he wanted some company while he ate.

Somewhere between there, and then, she’d asked him on a  _date_. Robert had said yes, the second the words were out of her mouth, unable to refuse her  _anything_ , not when she’d smile at him the way she did, as though she saw beneath the surface, saw past all the fronts and excuses he gave to try and look as though nothing in the world bothered him.

(Leyla was perceptive, clued in to how people felt, and thought, and it was something Robert hadn’t realised until he’d started spending more time with her.)

Robert had said yes, and he’d been  _excited_ , but now he was waiting in the hallway of the house she shared with Tracey and David, he was  _nervous_. It had been such a long time since he'd even been on a first date, and a part of him still felt guilty, about letting himself move on - and it was all such a mess, he could have  _ran_.

He was glad he didn’t, when Leyla finally arrived down the stairs, wearing the most insane black dress that hugged every inch of her figure, dark hair still cut into a shoulder length bob, make up making her look even more dark, and mysterious, and  _beautiful._

“You - you look amazing,” Robert managed to say, barely stringing together a sentence as he took in her appearance, watched as she wriggled into a pair of high heels, shoes that looked as though they weren’t made for standing in, let alone walking in.

Leyla grinned, pushing at his chin. “Get your jaw back up off the floor,” she teased. “Where’s that Robert Sugden charm I’ve heard so many stories about?”

Robert laughed, a flush rising in his cheeks as he shook his head, realising he hadn’t been as quick off the mark as he was probably rumoured to be. “You caught me off guard, I didn’t realise I was going on a date with a supermodel,” he said, eyes scanning Leyla’s for a reaction, enjoying how she seemed to melt a little at his words.

Leyla laughed, the sound like music to Robert’s ears as it filled the hallway, filling the house with noise, bringing back all the excitement Robert had lost when he’d knocked on the door and realised this was r e a l, he was going on a date for the first time since the breakup.

“Where are you taking me then?” Leyla inquired, tucking her handbag under one arm, leading the charge out of the house.

“Iberica, in Leeds,” Robert quipped, the Spanish word clunky and haphazard as they rolled off his tongue, the restaurant in Leeds he’d booked for them getting the reaction he’d hoped for, Leyla looking delightedly at him.

“I’ve always wanted to try there!” she exclaimed, locking the front door behind them, the summer evening warm, Robert almost regretting his decision to go with a suit (though not really, because he looked good, and they looked good  _together_.)

“Me too,” Robert admitted, ducking in front of her to open his passenger door for her, flashing her a cheeky grin. “All part of the Sugden charm.”

“You’ve already got me on a date,” Leyla said, hiking the skirt of her dress up a little so she could ease herself into Robert’s car, the Porsche a little too low to the ground to be entirely comfortable.

“You asked me on a date,” Robert pointed out, closing the door gently, quickly walking around to the other side, sliding in behind the wheel.

“Only because I didn’t think you’d ever get yourself together and ask me, darling,” Leyla responded easily, checking her impeccable red lipstick in the overhead mirror, giving him a bright grin. “I’d have been waiting until I was eighty for you to get yourself together and ask me out.”

Robert laughed, flicking on his indicator so he could turn onto the main road, the dual carriageway stretching out ahead of them. A part of him felt like he should feel apprehensive about taking Leyla on such a long car journey when it was their first date, but it was  _easy_  to talk to her.

It had been since that first day she’d slid him a gin and tonic, and asked if he fancied a friend.

It was  _odd_ , really, how comfortable he felt spending time with Leyla, but maybe it was more odd because Robert had spent the last year deciding he was absolutely not loveable, not anymore, not after all the ways he’d hurt Aaron.

But here was Leyla, smiling in his passenger seat, and googling the menu for the restaurant, because “she wouldn’t have long enough to decide when we get there, Robert!” and Robert felt a sort of happy, content feeling settle in his chest that he hadn’t felt in a while.

“I figured you enjoyed the chase more than I did,” Robert responded cheekily, swelling thickly as he looked at Leyla, the way her dress was sitting on her shoulders, collarbone and neck exposed, a delicious expanse of tan skin that had Robert’s head spinning.

He was going on a date with a gorgeous woman, Friday nights didn’t get much better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“That last cosmo was a bad idea,” Leyla laughed, arm hooked in Robert’s elbow as they walked through the village, Leyla teetering on her heels. They’d both had a few drinks, in the end, leaving Robert’s car at the restaurant and calling a taxi ( _not_ one of the Barton’s, thank you very much Robert, that would be like you ringing Aaron for a lift!), Leyla’s hand on his knee the entire way home in the taxi, the two of them content to sit in silence, and watch the motorway whirl past as they made their way home.

As first dates go, it had been as perfect as perfect could get. A spectacular meal, a few quiet drinks, followed by a few louder cocktails, the two of them attempting to order the  _most_  ridiculous sounding drinks from the menu, Leyla snapping pictures of Robert posing with over the top drinks for her instagram story.

“At least you didn’t get that horrific tequila thing you made me order,” Robert winced, the taste of tequila still lingering in his mouth. He was thirty two years old, far past the doing tequila shots stage of his life, more partial to a smooth, expensive whiskey, than he was some cheap as chips tequila.

“That was awful,” Leyla agreed, coming to a standstill as they arrived at her front door. The porch light was on, making him feel like a teenager bringing his date home before their curfew. “Well, this is me.”

“This is you,” Robert said, standing, hands in his pockets, drinking in every inch of Leyla. She was  _beautiful_ , beautiful in a way that made his heart race, made him  _want._ “I had a really great time tonight, Leyla.”

“So did I,” Leyla said, eyes flickering to Robert’s lips.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Robert leaned in, and kissed her, lips unfamiliar against his own as they kissed, Leyla’s hands knotting in his hair. As first kisses go, Robert decided as they broke apart, it was nothing short of spectacular.

“Let’s have lunch tomorrow,” Leyla said, lips inches from Robert’s as she spoke. “In Leeds. We could make a day of it, do a bit of shopping.”

Robert nodded, not trusting himself to speak, or he’d be doing his very best to go back on their ‘go slow’ agreement. They’d both had their hearts broken, in the past year, and they’d decided not to rush things, not when neither of them were ready to fall madly in love again.

Not yet, at least.

Leyla pressed one last lingering kiss to Robert’s lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she said, a delighted smile on her face. “I’ll pick you up, yeah? We can pick up your car then.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Robert smiled, giving Leyla one last appreciative look before he turned, and started his walk back toward Diane’s, walking straight into Aaron, who was clearly only on his way home from a night out himself.

“Hiya,” Aaron greeted, the tentative friendship they’d managed to develop over the year extending to some small talk, and greetings. “Good night?” he said, voice teasing as he pointed to Robert’s mouth.

Lipstick, of course.

Robert ducked his head, wiping at his mouth. “I uh….” he trailed off, not sure of what to say, not sure he even wanted to tell Aaron about the fact he’d been on a date.

“Robert, it’s okay,” Aaron reassured, eyes kind, and honest. “I want you to move on. Remember? I’m moving on, so it’s okay that you’re doing the same.”

Robert nodded, looking anywhere except at Aaron. “Still feels a bit weird, though,” he admitted. “Talking to you about dating other people.”

“I’ve got a boyfriend,” Aaron reminded, Robert vaguely remembering some dark haired lad Aaron had been having lunch with in the pub a few days previously, a name he’d definitely been told slipping his mind.

Robert took a deep breath, smiling slightly. “I think I might have a girlfriend,” he said, the word sounding strange, but not entirely unwelcome on his lips. “Leyla. I - I’m not going to rub it in your face, or anything, but…”

“I’ll see you both around,” Aaron finished for him. He was wearing the black shirt Chas had bought him for his birthday, scruffy trainers finishing off an altogether very Aaron outfit, one he’d seen a hundred times before, but it still made his heart skip in his chest a little. “Rob, seriously, it’s okay. We were both going to have to move on eventually - I’m not going to be mad at you for doing the exact same thing I’m doing.”

Robert’s chest felt a little freer, as he listened to Aaron speak. “You’re happy?” he asked, feeling like it was the simplest thing to ask, the easiest way to see the conversation going for a few more minutes, at least.

“I’m happy,” Aaron confirmed, giving Robert a genuine smile. “Are you?”

If you’d asked Robert a month, a  _week_  ago, he’d have said no, without a seconds hesitation, but now, after  _tonight_ , the feeling of Leyla’s lips still lingering on his own, well, he felt like happiness wasn’t such a foreign concept anymore.

“Yeah,” Robert admitted, feeling  _good_ ,  _light_ , like he could be be the kind of happy he used to be, before the breakup, before the baby that  _wasn’t,_ before it had all gone to hell. “I think I could be.”


End file.
